Image 26
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Date: 1797
At the end of the 18th century, Calcutta was a flourishing city with beautiful public buildings and large private houses built in the Palladian manner. The grandest buildings were around the Maidan, a great open space created around the second Fort William begun in 1757. This is a view of the Esplanade on the Maidan’s north side, which was the site of the principal public buildings, including Government House and the Supreme Court, and led to Chandpal Ghat, the official landing place from the river in Calcutta. (BH/TD/14)
Image 27
Date: 1797
This is a view of the Chitpore Road in Calcutta, which led north through the Bara or Great Bazaar, and was the main thoroughfare and market for the Bengali community in the city. Various wealthy Indians lived in this area, like '...a native Bengal merchant...' whose residence has a verandah overlooking the street and an open roof-top pavilion looking towards the temple in the distance. (BH/TD/15)
Image 28
Date: 1798
This is a view of the Black Pagoda, a Shiva temple built in north Calcutta around 1730 by the wealthy merchant Govinda Ram Mitter, that was perhaps never completely finished. The main tower collapsed sometime around 1800, and only one of the smaller subsidiary shrines survives. The aquatint reproduces a scene set in the Chitpore Bazaar, with water buffalo swimming in the tank and huts with characteristic Bengali curved eaves. The tank is for ritual ablutions. (BH/TD/18)
Image 29
This is a view of the Writers' Buildings, that housed the East India Company's servants for their first year in Calcutta. The building was a long range of identical suites built by Thomas Lyon in 1780 on the north side of Tank (later Dalhousie) Square. Beyond it there is the Old Court House. The obelisk in front of Writers' Buildings was erected by Governor Holwell as a memorial for the victim of the "Black Hole" of 1756. (BH/TD/17)
Image 30
This is a view of the General Hospital and Surgeons House in Calcutta. The General Hospital stood on the southern edge of the Maidan facing Fort William and was built in 1768. (BH/JM/7)
- Views of Calcutta, Part 5
- Views of Calcutta, Part 7 (Coming Soon)
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